The dispute between Miramax and Quentin Tarantino over the filmmaker’s plan to sell nonfungible tokens (NFTs) like script pages and other mementos from his 1994 breakout “Pulp Fiction” has reached a new level.
As The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (Jan. 13), attorneys for both camps have begun attacking each other in public over the legitimacy of the tokens, set to be auctioned beginning Jan. 17.
Miramax, which distributed the movie in 1994, sued Tarantino last year, claiming he breached his contract when he announced his plans to auction off the NFTs in November. Lawyers for Miramax argue the NFTs are unique, while Tarantino’s attorneys say he is simply reproducing copies of his script, one of the rights he reserved in the 1990s.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the legal battle has drawn the attention of entertainment executives and lawyers, because intellectual property similar cases are likely to pop up as NFTs grow in popularity.
Read more: Quentin Tarantino, Miramax at War Over Pulp Fiction NFTs
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” said Thomas C. Danziger, an attorney who specializes in art law and transactions. “Every third call I get is about NFTs.”
Contracts between a creator and production entity will typically include forward-looking language that accounts for new technology. It’s just not clear where NFTs come into play.
“Every time technology changes, these things come up,” Alan Behr, an intellectual-property lawyer at Phillips Nizer LLP, told the Journal. The question is, he said, whether “the words used in contracts are broad enough.”
Miramax thinks the issue is clear. This week, attorney Bart Williams, representing the studio, wrote to SCRT Labs, the company handling the auction, arguing they have no right to mint or sell the tokens.
Bryan Freedman, who represents Tarantino, countered that Williams and Miramax were trying to sabotage the NFT auction and lower bidding by casting doubt on the director’s rights.
“Knowing that it has no legal basis to stop the sale, Miramax has instead resorted to attempting to mislead the public,” the attorney said.
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